Driving the Day

Good Friday morning. ALL EYES ON MCCONNELL — BURGESS EVERETT and JOHN BRESNAHAN: “McConnell lays it on the line”: “He’s been battered by President Donald Trump and had his vaunted legislative acumen called into question. Now, Mitch McConnell has a chance to put his cruel summer behind him. Over the next week, the Senate majority leader will try one last time to rescind the Democratic health care law. At the same time, he’s put his political reputation on the line in Alabama, where his chosen candidate, incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, faces off against anti-establishment Roy Moore in a special Senate election on Tuesday.

“The typically cautious McConnell is taking huge gambles in both cases, and will emerge as a hero or goat within the GOP depending on how it all turns out. … McConnell will need everything to break his way to come out on top. Moore is leading in the polls and McConnell currently lacks the votes to repeal Obamacare.” http://politi.co/2xl7HqH

Story Continued Below

— “Palin, Gorka cast Alabama candidate Strange as too swampy for Senate,” by Cristiano Lima and Alex Isenstadt: “Two avid Trump supporters on Thursday blasted the president’s preferred candidate in the Alabama runoff for U.S. Senate, Sen. Luther Strange, as too swampy for Washington while hailing his opponent, former state Chief Justice Roy Moore, as the outsider the state needs. …

“They also repeatedly dinged Strange for using the support of the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.). ‘The president needs support to keep the promises that elected him,’ Palin told the rowdy crowd in Montgomery. ‘So we’re sending someone that has the back of the people, not McConnell’s.’ She added: ‘Make no mistake, Big Luther is McConnell’s guy.’” http://politi.co/2ygLNEo … Strange’s new TV ad — “Protecting Children”http://bit.ly/2fEKJU7

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP is in Bedminster, N.J. He will head to Huntsville, Ala., later today for an evening rally for Alabama Republican Sen. Luther Strange.

SCOOP — NANCY COOK: “Trump aides begin looking for the exits”: “A fast-growing number of White House staffers are starting to look for the exits, even though the one-year mark of President Donald Trump’s first term is still months away. Many who joined the administration in January did so with the explicit idea that they’d stay for at least a year, enough to credibly say they’d served. But in the aftermath of a wave of abrupt, high-profile departures over the summer that culminated with former strategist Steve Bannon’s ouster in August, aides up and down the chain are reaching out to headhunters, lobbyists, and GOP operatives for help finding their next job. Staffers from the National Economic Council—where director Gary Cohn is widely expected to be on his way out altogether after tax reform or onto a different role—as well as the communications shop and beyond are quietly exploring their next moves.

“They’re talking to headhunters about positions as in-house government affairs experts at major companies, or as executives at trade associations, universities, or consulting firms – ironically, jobs that run counter to Trump’s ‘drain the swamp’ mantra. … ‘There will be an exodus from this administration in January,’ said one Republican lobbyist, who alone has heard from five officials looking for new gigs. … Staffers are already laying the groundwork through networking, lunches, and resumes sent to D.C.-based executive recruiters, so that they can a land new job by the start of 2018. Two headhunters confirmed that they had heard from multiple White House staffers.” http://politi.co/2xn9gon

THE LATEST ON HEALTH CARE — “Trump publicly backs healthcare effort, privately harbors doubts,” by Josh Dawsey and Burgess Everett: “In public, President Donald Trump is all-in on the Senate’s final chance to repeal Obamacare. But privately, there’s ambivalence in the White House about the bill’s contents and its chances of clearing the tightly divided chamber next week.

“Trump spent time between meetings at the United Nations calling senators and other senior White House officials about the Graham-Cassidy bill, asking for updated vote tallies and how to woo senators for the bill. White House officials have considered tweaking the state funding to win a vote from GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — and others. Trump has also publicly excoriated Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul for voting against the legislation, telling aides he would go after other senators. …

“The public stance is coupled with a sense of doubt inside the White House, though, about the bill and deep concerns about whether it can pass the Senate or House, according to administration officials and congressional sources. These people say the president and his team have little sway with some key members, like GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John McCain of Arizona and Murkowski, the trio that tanked Republicans’ repeal attempt in July.” http://politi.co/2yhzUOI

— @realDonaldTrump at 6:19 a.m.: “Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as ‘the Republican who saved ObamaCare.'”

— PAUL DEMKO: “Last-ditch Obamacare repeal bill has ‘worst elements’ of earlier plans”: “The last-ditch Obamacare repeal bill has almost every divisive proposal that doomed previous bills. The big difference: a Sept. 30 deadline to use a rule that allows Senate Republicans to pass a measure with just 50 votes. Like earlier, failed plans, the Graham-Cassidy measure would allow states to dismantle rules that prevent older, sicker people from being charged higher insurance premiums. It would cap the federal outlay for traditional Medicaid, which could jeopardize coverage for the most vulnerable. And it would almost certainly lead to millions more Americans lacking insurance, health care policy experts say.” http://politi.co/2fmDses

THE LATEST ON TAX REFORM — THE LATEST ON TAX REFORM — “White House plan for tax cuts moves forward,” by WaPo’s Damian Paletta and Mike DeBonis: “The White House plan for a massive package of tax cuts is gaining new momentum as Republicans attempt to set aside months of intraparty squabbling and unify behind a key part of President Trump’s agenda. Two developments are accelerating the effort: Key Senate Republicans reached a tentative deal this week to allow for as much as $1.5 trillion in tax reductions over 10 years; and there is a growing willingness within the GOP to embrace controversial, optimistic estimates of how much economic growth their tax plan would create.” http://wapo.st/2xmmSzW

–– “White House seen softening trade stance as tax reform fight approaches,” by CNBC’s Kayla Tausche: “The White House is softening its stance on trade — if only temporarily — as it seeks to preserve Republican votes on tax reform, according senior administration officials, congressional aides and outside advisors. A long-delayed investigation into Chinese steel dumping is on hold; the calls to withdraw from NAFTA have quieted; and the criticism of the existing free-trade deal with Korea has been snuffed as the Trump Administration actively works to preserve Republican votes for tax reform, the sole issue that unites the party ruling both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Looking at the rosters for the House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, ‘the vast majority are free-traders,’ said one senior administration official, acknowledging particularly hawkish trade actions — like withdrawing from NAFTA or slapping tariffs on steel — wouldn’t sit well with that group.” http://cnb.cx/2jPLT3w

RUSSIA WATCH — “Facebook’s cooperation on Russian ads doesn’t stop Democrats’ demands,” by Nancy Scola, Josh Dawsey, and Ali Watkins: “Facebook has agreed to provide details to congressional investigators about ads purchased by Russians to influence the 2016 presidential campaign, and on Thursday vowed greater transparency in political advertising. But some Democratic senators want to make those pledges mandatory.

“The moves come amid mounting pressure from Congress to release the Russian-related ads, particularly criticism from Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Two people familiar with the matter disclosed the deal to POLITICO on Thursday shortly before Facebook announced it publicly. Hours later, POLITICO obtained a letter from Warner and Sen. Amy Klobuchar seeking co-sponsors on proposed legislation that would require Facebook, Google and other digital platforms to disclose more information about political advertisements and the buyers behind them.

“The two Democrats are writing legislation that would require web platforms with more than one million users to publicly disclose the names of individuals and organizations that spend more than $10,000 on election-related advertisements. The sites would also have to provide a copy of the advertisement, and disclose details about the targeted audience, the number of people who view the ad, the time and date it was published, the amount of money charged and the buyer’s contract information.” http://politi.co/2ygCft9

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DRIP, DRIP, DRIP — “U.S. Monitored Manafort After He Left Trump Campaign,” by WSJ’s Shane Harris: “U.S. authorities placed Paul Manafort under surveillance after he was ousted as Donald Trump’s campaign manager in the summer of 2016, according to U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The surveillance, which was part of a counterintelligence investigation into Russian interference with the presidential election, didn’t involve listening to Mr. Manafort’s phone communications in real-time … But armed with a warrant, investigators still could have conducted clandestine surveillance of Mr. Manafort, possibly by obtaining copies of his emails and other electronically stored communications, or by having agents follow him or conduct physical searches of his property.” http://on.wsj.com/2xmBj78

— “Skadden, Big New York Law Firm, Faces Questions on Work With Manafort,” by NYT’s Ken Vogel and Andrew E. Kramer: “Five years ago, Paul Manafort arranged for a prominent New York-based law firm to draft a report that was used by allies of his client, Viktor Yanukovych, the Russia-aligned president of Ukraine, to justify the jailing of a political rival. And now the report is coming back to haunt it. The Justice Department … recently asked the firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, for information and documents related to its work on behalf of Mr. Yanukovych’s government, which crumbled after he fled to Russia under pressure.” http://nyti.ms/2wauBQd

ON THE WORLD STAGE — “Kim Jong Un: ‘Deranged’ Trump will ‘pay dearly’ for threat,” by AP’s Foster Klug in Seoul, South Korea: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in an extraordinary and direct rebuke, called President Donald Trump ‘deranged’ and said he will ‘pay dearly’ for his threats, a possible indication of more powerful weapons tests on the horizon. Hours later, North Korea’s foreign minister reportedly said his country may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean to fulfill Kim’s vow to take the ‘highest-level’ action against the United States.

“Kim, in his statement, said Trump is ‘unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country.’ He also described the U.S. president as ‘a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire.’ The dispatch was unusual in that it was written in the first person, albeit filtered through the North’s state media, which are part of propaganda efforts meant to glorify Kim. South Korea’s government said it was the first such direct address to the world by any North Korean leader. …

“Kim characterized Trump’s speech to the world body as ‘unprecedented rude nonsense.’ He said Trump’s remarks ‘have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last.’ Kim said he is ‘thinking hard’ about his response and that he would ‘tame the mentally deranged U.S. dotard with fire.’” http://bit.ly/2xzcPK7

— “Defying Trump, Iran says will boost missile capabilities,” by Reuters’ Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London: “Iran will strengthen its missile capabilities and will not seek any country’s permission, President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday in a snub to demands from U.S. President Donald Trump. Rouhani was speaking at a military parade where an Iranian news agency said one of the weapons on display was a new ballistic missile with range of 1,200 miles, capable of carrying several warheads. … In a speech broadcast on state television, Rouhani said: ‘We will increase our military power as a deterrent. We will strengthen our missile capabilities … We will not seek permission from anyone to defend our country.” http://reut.rs/2fl1giY

FT – “Steve Bannon held secret meeting in Beijing,” by Tom Mitchell in Beijing and Demetri Sevastopulos in DC: “Steve Bannon flew to Beijing last week for a secret meeting with the second most powerful Chinese Communist party official, less than a month after the former chief White House strategist declared that America was at ‘economic war with China’. According to one person in China familiar with the situation, Mr Bannon travelled to Beijing to meet Wang Qishan, the head of the Chinese Communist party’s anti-corruption campaign. The meeting occurred at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership compound, after Mr Bannon had visited Hong Kong to give a closed-door speech at a big investor conference hosted by CLSA, a Chinese state-owned brokerage and investment group.” http://on.ft.com/2waDJ7w

TRUMP’S CABINET — “Price traveled by private plane at least 24 times: HHS secretary chartered flights even to cities with frequent, inexpensive commercial options,” by Rachana Pradhan and Dan Diamond: “Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has taken at least 24 flights on private charter planes at taxpayers’ expense since early May, according to people with knowledge of his travel plans and a review of HHS documents. The frequency of the trips underscores how private travel has become the norm — rather than the exception — for the Georgia Republican during his tenure atop the federal health agency, which began in February. The cost of the trips identified by POLITICO exceeds $300,000, according to a review of federal contracts and similar trip itineraries.

“Price’s use of private jets represents a sharp departure from his two immediate predecessors, Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Kathleen Sebelius, who flew commercially in the continental United States. HHS officials have said Price uses private jets only when commercial travel is not feasible. But many of the flights are between large cities with frequent, low-cost airline traffic, such as a trip from Washington to Nashville that the secretary took on June 6 … Price took a Learjet-60 from San Diego to the Aspen Ideas Festival — a glamorous conference at the Colorado resort town — that arrived at 3:33 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, June 24, nearly 19 hours before his scheduled panel. That flight likely cost more than $7,100, according to one charter jet agency estimate.” http://politi.co/2yuEhXi

— “How Tom Price decided chartered, private jets were a good use of taxpayer money,” by WaPo’s Aaron C. Davis: “After Tom Price was sworn in as health and human services secretary, the Georgia Republican faced an inconvenience known to millions of Americans: His flight was delayed, an aide said, and he was forced to spend hours at an airport. The delay left Price a no-show at an early public appearance his office helped plan.

“Price knew well the pain of flying to and from Washington as a member of Congress for 12 years. But now he was the head of a trillion-dollar federal agency and one of President Trump’s point men to fulfill the campaign promise of repealing the Affordable Care Act. Flight delays and no-shows would not do. So began a practice in Price’s office of turning to private, chartered jet travel, aides say, to ferry the cabinet official to and from meetings around the country — often at a cost to taxpayers of thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars per trip.” http://wapo.st/2xWP13Y

FLYING COMMERCIAL — SPOTTED on the 4 p.m. shuttle from New York to D.C. on Wednesday: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in first class, Karen Pence getting her own bag out of the overhead and Fox News’ Chris Wallace, according to a tipster.

THE JUICE …

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: CRAIG GORDON is being named Bloomberg’s Washington bureau chief. MARTY SCHENKER is moving back to D.C. to become chief content officer and WES KOSOVA will oversee Bloomberg’s U.S. and global government and politics coverage from Washington.

Playbook Reads

PHOTO DU JOUR: Marine One takes off with President Donald Trump aboard after he attended his first United Nations General Assembly in New York City on September 21. | Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty

JOSH GERSTEIN: “DHS rejects call to halt security detail for top officials”: “The Department of Homeland Security has rejected a call from its internal watchdog office to suspend or end security details for the heads of two of its most significant components: Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a report released Thursday, DHS Inspector General John Roth said there’s no clear legal authority for the executive protection arrangements and a perception they may have little to do with mitigating any real threat.

“‘Because these security details incur substantial monetary and personnel costs, provide transportation and logistical services not necessarily tied to any demonstrated security concern, and are often authorized by those receiving the services, these details give the appearance to some observers of being more related to executive convenience and status than protection,’ Roth wrote. ‘It is axiomatic that no government employee can use government resources for his or her own private benefit, and every government employee has the duty to protect and conserve government resources and only use them for authorized purposes. The current situation is based on questionable legal authority and invites abuse.’” http://politi.co/2ff6tVS … The reporthttp://bit.ly/2ff6IAg

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Trump Poised to Drop Some Limits on Drone Strikes and Commando Raids,” by NYT’s Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt: “First, the targets of kill missions by the military and the C.I.A., now generally limited to high-level militants deemed to pose a ‘continuing and imminent threat’ to Americans, would be expanded to include foot-soldier jihadists with no special skills or leadership roles. And second, proposed drone attacks and raids would no longer undergo high-level vetting. But administration officials have also agreed that they should keep in place one important constraint for such attacks: a requirement of ‘near certainty’ that no civilian bystanders will be killed. …

“The policy paves the way for broader and more frequent operations against Al Qaeda, the Islamic State and other jihadists. It would also apply in countries where the United States has targeted Islamist militants outside of regular combat for years, including Yemen, Somalia and Libya, and would ease the way to expanding such gray-zone acts of sporadic warfare to elsewhere in Africa, Asia and the Middle East where terrorists operate.” http://nyti.ms/2ywlCL4

NIKKI’S STAR CONTINUES TO RISE — “Nikki Haley emerges as interpreter — and megaphone — for Trump,” by WaPo’s Anne Gearan and David Nakamura: “President Trump’s two most high-profile diplomats, Rex Tillerson and Nikki Haley, were with him at a meeting with African leaders here this week when the president took the lectern to offer a big reveal. He had decided to dispatch one of them to a new on-the-ground peace mission in violence-plagued South Sudan and Congo. ‘I’m sending Ambassador Nikki Haley,’ Trump declared. That the president gave the nod to Haley, his United Nations envoy, and not Tillerson, the secretary of state, who outranks her as a member of the Cabinet, was not necessarily evidence, in and of itself, that she was upstaging him. …

“To outside observers, the differences between Haley, a former politician, and Tillerson, former ExxonMobil chief executive, have been stark. Although she came to the job with virtually no foreign policy experience, Haley has worked hard to establish relationships with foreign officials and journalists, while Tillerson has exhibited a sense of isolation within his own department and has kicked most of the State Department reporters off his government jet.” http://wapo.st/2xXDhOo

— @CBSNews: “Reporter: ‘Do you want to be Secretary of State?’ Haley: ‘No, I do not.’” 46-second videohttp://bit.ly/2fF9kIe

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TREASURY WATCH — “Mnuchin’s Incomplete Treasury Staff Could Be A Risk In Crisis,” by Bloomberg’s Saleha Mohsin: “The Treasury Department still lacks permanent officials in half of its highest-ranking political jobs more than eight months into Donald Trump’s presidency, leaving Secretary Steven Mnuchin shorthanded as he tries to carry out the administration’s ambitious economic agenda. Only nine of the 18 positions in Treasury requiring Senate confirmation have been filled, and only three additional nominees have been named by the Trump administration.

“Among the vacancies is deputy secretary, who is Mnuchin’s top lieutenant and a key figure in the day-to-day operations of the department. Trump has yet to find a nominee for the job since Goldman Sachs partner Jim Donovan removed himself from consideration in May. ‘I cannot imagine having this skeletal staff if a crisis were to hit,’ said Stephen Myrow, who worked at Treasury during the George W. Bush administration when the global financial crisis began. ‘So many people go into government with a set agenda but what we’ve seen time and time again is that you spend your time working on crises — no one knows that better than those of us that served in 2008.” https://bloom.bg/2fl50kw

BREAKING — at 6:10 a.m.: “LONDON (AP) – Transport for London says it won’t renew a license for Uber to operate in the British capital.”

THE PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW: MPAA CEO Charles Rivkin

CHARLES RIVKIN has just started one of the most sought-after jobs on K Street: head of the Motion Pictures Association of America. But the 55-year-old former Ambassador to France and Obama bundler told us that he didn’t take the job for the perks, like meeting actors and directors – he mentioned again and again that it’s all about the jobs that the movie industry supports.

Rivkin hopes that the Trump administration, partly because the president worked in entertainment, will help them on IP, trade and tax issues that the MPAA says could grow the industry more. A few weeks into the new job, Rivkin, whose favorite film is the original “Muppet” movie, has met with a number of senators, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and had dinner with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in the Capitol.

A DEMOCRAT NAVIGATING TRUMP’S WASHINGTON: “I don’t see myself as a Democrat in Washington. … Beyond partisanship, the six studios that hired me want me to help build this organization, build this association out and that’s where my business background comes in … In France, I built relationships with foreign leaders which I think is useful for a business that sells more than 70 percent of its product overseas. … I would like to introduce more of what’s great about Hollywood and Los Angeles here to D.C. I’d like to have more screenings, I’d like to bring more stars to Washington, D.C. and the area. I’d like to better expose to people in this town the issues and the concerns and also the opportunities that exist in the industry.”

“OPTIMISTIC” ON TRUMP ADMIN. RELATIONS: “President Trump probably knows this industry better than any president since Reagan and probably more than Reagan since he understands the business of it. And I’m going to make my case to the administration and to Congress that this is a fantastic industry to invest in. … The Treasury secretary financed movies and Dina Powell was in charge of cultural affairs at the State Department [under Bush 43]. This is an administration I think that will understand on a gut level why [the industry is] important. It’s not just important for economics but also projection of American values. So yeah, I’m optimistic.”

“SILLY” TO BE ANTI-TRADE: “I can’t speak to the president’s trade position but I can tell you that we as a country are five percent of the world’s population and we have a $19 trillion economy so the idea of being against trade is of course silly because you can’t support a $19 trillion economy if you’re not selling your product elsewhere and the key to selling your product elsewhere is lowering barriers to trade and opening markets. That’s one of the things that I’m doing in this job is identifying barriers that prevent one of America’s greatest exports, media from reaching these countries and make it safe for our product.” Read the rest of his interviewhttp://politi.co/2hkDog5

SANTORUM AND PRESTON — On the eve of the CNN healthcare town hall debate, the stealth architect of the Graham-Cassidy proposal, Rick Santorum, talks with CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston for his SiriusXM show, “Full Stop with Mark Preston” to advocate for the bill’s passage and defend it from critics. The show airs Saturday at noon and Sunday at 5 p.m. on SiriusXM POTUS 124. Preview clips — Trump, GOP Leaders failed on healthcarehttp://bit.ly/2wKDYpc … 20 years ago this bill would passhttp://bit.ly/2wK3afQ … Obama, and now Trump failed to build bipartisan trusthttp://bit.ly/2xyOIuY

MEDIAWATCH — “Megyn Kelly Is Ready for Her Morning Closeup,” by NYT’s John Koblin: “Though Megyn Kelly has offered few specifics about what her NBC morning show will be like, she is happy to try a few analogies. ‘If a news show and a talk show had a baby, that’s us,’ she said of ‘Megyn Kelly Today,’ which starts Monday, in an interview from her fifth-floor corner office at Rockefeller Plaza.

“‘It’s newsy, and it’s talky.’ Ms. Kelly, the former Fox News prime-time host, then compared her 9 a.m. show to a cocktail. ‘Hoda and Kathie Lee love wine,’ she said, referring to NBC’s 10 a.m. hosts, Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, who are indeed no strangers to wine. ‘The ‘Today’ show is mostly coffee. I would say if you had to put a drink on my show, it would be a mimosa. There’s stuff that’s a little naughty. Stuff in there that’s good for you. Some stuff in there that’s fun and sweet.” http://nyti.ms/2hl9Hve

–UPDATE — @HowardKurtz: “I reported tonight that Sean Spicer has apologized to @mikeallen for his angry text–he had lost his cool–and the apology was accepted”.

— “Fox News adds a live program at 11 p.m. with Shannon Bream,” by L.A. Times’ Stephen Battaglio: http://lat.ms/2fdyrBa

Playbookers

SPOTTED: Steven Mnuchin at breakfast at Cafe Boulud Thursday morning in NYC – he was later spotted coming off a flight at DCA at Terminal B … Corey Lewandowski at the Trump hotel on Thursday … Janet Napolitano having dinner at Convivial with Sean Rankin, exec. director at DAGA … George Will on a United flight Thursday morning from Seattle to Dulles … Robert Kaplan last night at the St. Regis

TRANSITIONS — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — JOHN MERCURIO has been named deputy global chief communications officer of The Bitfury Group. He previously worked in senior strategic roles at Purple Strategies and Burson-Marsteller.

— Rob Strayer has started as the new deputy assistant secretary of state for cyber and international communications and information policy. He’s the former general counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

BIRTHDAYS OF THE DAY: Amy Chozick, NYT reporter and author of an upcoming political memoir about her eight years (on and off) covering Hillary. How she got her start in journalism: “I moved to New York with no job, no apartment and a stack of clips from The Daily Texan. I was so naïve. I went door-to-door dropping my clips off in mailrooms at Newsweek, Time, etc. One time, security (politely) escorted me out of the old Times building. It took a few years of odd jobs (temping at magazines, mostly), but I eventually got a job at The Wall Street Journal. I was the news assistant on the Foreign Desk. The Journal editors (John Bussey, Marcus Brauchli, etc.) actually encouraged me to be a bad assistant so I could get bylines and become a full-time reporter. Well, I killed it at being a terrible assistant. Two years later, I had dozens of bylines and the Journal relocated me to Japan to be a foreign correspondent based in Tokyo.” Read her Playbook Plus Q&A:http://politi.co/2waYuQn

–Neil Cavuto, anchor and managing editor of business News for Fox Business and Fox News. How he got his start in the media: “I started out in print, originally writing for the Indianapolis News on a fellowship program after college, then later in Washington, D.C., as a reporter for Investment Age Magazine. I was there for the opening days of the Reagan administration – talk about impeccable timing for a true numbers nerd! Business news reporting was pretty much re-defined during those early Reagan years, as were business reporters. My enthusiasm for the relatively mundane world of budgets and taxes and at least a passing knowledge of math helped me later land a producer position at the ‘Nightly Business Report’ in Washington. That half-hour daily public television show was way ahead of the curve and despite hiring me, way ahead of staffing up for the Reagan Revolution to come. Business news itself would never again be relegated to a section in a newspaper or a quick Dow Jones quip in a broadcast.” Q&A:http://politi.co/2xzgFCQ

****** A message from UC Davis: Next-generation, energy-efficient lighting developed at the UC Davis California Lighting Technology Center is transforming the way we see the world around us. At home, work and in our communities — even in our national parks — we are benefitting from cleaner, safer and more visually appealing lighting. All brought to market faster through the center’s innovation, education and partnerships with designers, manufacturers, utilities and government agencies. Now isn’t that bright? Learn more about how we’re supporting sustainability on a global scale at 21stcentury.ucdavis.edu. ******

The host of TYT Network's nationally-syndicated Bill Press Show (Monday-Friday from 7-9am ET), Press attends the daily White House press briefing and writes a weekly column for the powerhouse politics website The Hill.